Methods and Systems for Providing a Logical Network Layer for Delivery of Input/Output Data

ABSTRACT

A method for routing input/output (10) data in a telecommunication system including a network node having a plurality of first integrated circuit (IC) cards, a plurality of second 1C cards and a switching fabric, each second IC card connected to a corresponding first IC card in a respective slot of the network node xs described. The method involves receiving the IO data at an external port of any of the plurality of first or second 1C cards. When packets of the IO data are received at an external port of a given second IC card, the given second IC card performs a packet classification of the packets to at least in part determine a destination for the packets. A further step of the method includes delivering the packets to a first or second IC card destination according to the packet classification performed by the given second IC card via a logical network layer existing on the first and second IC cards and the switching fabric. A particular implementation includes use in an Advanced Telecommunication Computing Architecture (ATCA) system.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 61/161,101 filed on Mar. 18, 2009, which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to providing a logical network layer for deliveryof IO data in a network.

BACKGROUND

In many chassis based systems, multi-core technology is driving a desirefor consolidation of different applications and services into singlephysical systems. These applications and services, once physicallyseparated and networked together are now being integrated into a singlechassis with the same security requirements that physical separationprovided and the inter-connectivity that the network between themprovided for inter-application operability. Examples of theseconsolidation requirements include WAN connectivity with Virtual PrivateNetworking (VPN) support, network security and storage networkingservices, connectivity between front-end web applications with back-enddatabase applications. In these examples, there should be both front-endnetwork access security and application level security betweenapplication services in the front and back end. At the same time, eachtier of services shares a common set of storage devices in a secure andsegregated way.

In a particular example of a telecommunications architecture, namely theAdvanced Telecommunications Computer Architecture (ACTA), an ATCAchassis solution has developed into a large eco-system of card types andvendors with solutions that address different product areas in theapplication server and gateway product market spaces. ATCA systems todayhave developed into large processing farms with product specificInput/Output (IO) delivery methods depending on vendor preferences andproduct use case requirements. In all cases, the IO deliveryarchitectures lack sufficient standards to cover the necessaryflexibility for different product type use cases that the ATCA chassisbased solutions cover today. The different IO methods create complexityin the base software developed on these systems and limit the re-use ofcertain card vendors to meet solutions. Unique software implementationsmust be created to handle each of the various vendor and productspecific implementations.

The current IO infrastructure in an ATCA system must cover external IOtraffic from intranet and internet connections, storage traffic involvedwith shared storage requirements, and low latency inter-processingtraffic required for clustering and control of the different processingentities. The current ATCA standards do not define suitable methods forATCA systems to handle the different traffic types listed. The fabric isdesigned for inter-processing communications, but lacks methods formixing external IO and storage requirements for the increased processingdemands that are becoming necessary with the evolution of systems withregard to processing and storage, as discussed above. Some vendors use acombination of Advanced Mezzanine Cards (AMC) and Rear TransitionModules (RTM) to carry the storage and external IO traffic. This leadsto unusual software methods to implement operable systems. Each cardimplementation requires its own sets of rules for interconnects and thecard type may not meet all the requirements for storage, clustering andexternal IO traffic for bandwidth requirements as systems continue toevolve.

SUMMARY

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided amethod for routing input/output (IO) data in a telecommunication system,the system comprising a network node comprising a plurality of firstintegrated circuit (IC) cards, a plurality of second IC cards and aswitching fabric, each second IC card connected to a corresponding firstIC card in a respective slot of the network node, the method comprising:receiving the IO data at an external port of any of the plurality offirst or second IC cards; when packets of the IO data are received at anexternal port of any of the plurality of second IC cards: upon receiptof the packets by a given second IC card, the given second IC cardperforming a packet classification of the packets to at least in partdetermine a destination for the packets; delivering the packets to afirst or second IC card destination according to the packetclassification performed by the given second IC card via a logicalnetwork layer existing on the first and second IC cards and theswitching fabric.

In some embodiments, the method comprises at one or more of any of thefirst or second IC cards or the switching fabric: receiving the packetsin the logical network layer; and offloading the packets to an IO layerfor processing or to a processing layer for processing via the IO layer.

In some embodiments, offloading the packets to the IO layer forprocessing comprises at least one of: offloading the packets to the IOlayer to enable virtualized operating environment support with isolatednetwork addressing and protected traffic types through the use of one ormore of: networking layer virtual local area networking (VLAN), virtualrouting (VR) and policy based forwarding methods; and offloading thepackets to the IO layer to enable unification of physical interconnectresources for cluster communications between application services,storage traffic between application and storage devices, and IO trafficbetween application services and external ports through the use of thenetwork layer.

In some embodiments, the method comprises accessing at least oneperipheral device within the network node via the logical networkinglayer.

In some embodiments, delivering the packets via the logical networklayer to a first or second IC card destination comprises at least oneof: delivering the packets via at least one of the plurality of first ICcards configured as a switching fabric card; and delivering the packetsvia a mesh interconnect connecting together two or more of the pluralityof first IC cards.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is providean integrated circuit (IC) card for use in a rear slot location of anetwork node having a plurality of slots, each slot comprising a frontslot location and rear slot location, the IC card comprising: at leastone external port for receiving IO data; at least one internal port forconnecting to a corresponding front location slot card or a switchingfabric of the network node; a network device configured to performclassification of packets of the IO data to at least in part determine adestination for the packets, the network device configured tocommunicate with network devices in front slot cards and a switchingfabric such that collectively the network devices form a logical networklayer for delivering the packets of the IO data to a different frontslot card or rear slot card destination according to classificationperformed by the network device via the logical network layer.

In some embodiments, the IC card further comprises at least one IOdevice configured to offload packets of the IO data for processing.

In some embodiments, the IO device is configured to perform at least oneof encryption; decryption; encapsulation; decapsulation; deep packetinspection; Transmission Control Protocol (TCP); Fiber Channel overEthernet (FCOE) processing and Internet Small Computer System Interface(iSCSI) processing.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, there isprovided an apparatus for routing input/output (IO) data in atelecommunication system comprising: a plurality of first integratedcircuit (IC) cards; a plurality of second IC cards; and a switchingfabric, each second IC card connected to a first IC card in a slot ofthe apparatus; wherein at least one of the plurality of second IC cardsis configured to receive IO data at an external port; upon receipt ofpackets of the IO data, the at least one second IC card performing apacket classification of the packets to at least in part determine adestination for the packets; delivering the packets to a first or secondIC card destination according to the packet classification via a logicalnetwork layer existing on the first and second IC cards and theswitching fabric.

In some embodiments, one or more of the first or second IC cards or theswitching fabric are configured to: receive the packets in the logicalnetwork layer; and offload the packets to an IO layer for processing orto a processing layer for processing via the IO layer.

In some embodiments, at least one of the plurality of second IC cardsand at least one of the plurality of first IC cards have a networkdevice that enables delivery of the packets in the logical networklayer.

In some embodiments, the switching fabric is comprised of at least oneof: at least one of the plurality of first IC cards configured as aswitching fabric card; and a mesh interconnect connecting together twoor more of the plurality of first IC cards.

In some embodiments, the network node is an Advanced TelecommunicationsComputing Architecture (ACTA) chassis comprising a plurality of slotsconfigured to receive the plurality of first IC cards and the pluralityof second IC cards.

In some embodiments, at least one of the plurality the second IC cardsis a Rear Transition Module (RTM) card.

In some embodiments, at least one of the plurality of first IC cards isone of: an application/service card; an IO connector card; and a datastorage card.

In some embodiments, a second IC card and a first IC card in the sameslot are the same card type and use the logical network layer to deliverpackets to other first and second IC cards.

In some embodiments, at least one of the plurality of first IC cards andplurality of second IC cards comprises at least one offload deviceconfigured to operate in the IO layer.

In some embodiments, the at least one offload device is configured toperform at least one of: encryption; decryption; encapsulation;decapsulation; deep packet inspection; Transmission Control Protocol(TCP); Fiber Channel over Ethernet (FCOE) processing and internet SmallComputer System Interface (iSCSI) processing.

In some embodiments, the network devices are compliant with one or moreof: IEEE 802.1p, IEEE 802.1Qua, IEEE 802.az, IEEE 802.1bb, and PCI-E.

In some embodiments, a subset of the plurality of the second IC cardsare configured to monitor and debug any IO port, internal or external onany other first or second IC card in the apparatus.

Other aspects and features of the present invention will become apparentto those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the followingdescription of specific embodiments of the invention in conjunction withthe accompanying figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the backplane connector andinterconnect design according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an exemplary schematic diagram of components and interconnectsthat are implemented in some embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating a method according to an embodimentof the invention;

FIG. 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E and 4F are exemplary block diagrams showing thelocation and arrangement of components to provide different IO andprocessing embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 5 is an exemplary schematic diagram of components and interconnectsthat are implemented in some embodiments of the invention; and

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating some examples of IO deliveryand/or processing used in each of the layers in accordance with someembodiments of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, numerous details are set forth to providean understanding of various embodiments of the invention. However, itwill be understood by those skilled in the art that some embodiments maybe practiced without these details and that numerous variations ormodifications from the described embodiments may be possible.

While many of the implementations described below pertain to an exampleof ATCA devices and systems and methods that may be used with thosesystems and devices, it is to be understood that the general principlesunderlying those particular implementations may be applicable to othertypes of devices and systems. An example of other types of devices andsystems that may support methods and generalized hardware describedherein are devices and systems that support PICMG 2.16.

As discussed above, ATCA solutions deploy vendor specific IO deliverymethods that do not permit design reuse across solutions. Someembodiments of the invention described below aid in creating a uniformIO delivery system. In some embodiments a logical network layer isprovided across a system by implementing an interconnected set ofnetwork devices across the system. In some implementations the system,or a portion of the system, is a chassis including multiple integratedcircuit (IC) cards. IC cards in the chassis may be distributed suchthat, for example, two cards are allocated per slot, in which thechassis has multiple slots. The IC cards are arranged in each slot suchthat one IC card is in a front slot location and the other IC card is ina rear slot location. One or more of the IC cards form a switchingfabric over which the other IC cards in the chassis are connected andother network elements in the network may be connected. In someimplementations the IC cards used to form the switching fabric,switching fabric cards, are located in the front slot locations. Othercards located in the front slot locations and connected to the switchingfabric cards include, but are not limited to: application/service cardsthat provide application data processing specific to an application suchas transaction processing, data base transactions, message basedprocessing, as well as provide control plane and management planesignaling; IO connector cards that facilitate routing of IO data betweenrear slot cards and the switching fabric cards and storage cards thatfacilitate storage of IO data as appropriate; and cards that providenetwork connection to general internet, specific separate networks (forexample SS7 or customer specific networks) using different interface(both cable types and protocols) or different networks or sections likea gateway or large database farm or processing farm access, or specialpurpose like a Geo stationary satellite or other long distance link. Thefront slot cards may have one or more ports for receiving/transmittingIO data. Some of the tear slot cards may also have one or more ports forreceiving/transmitting IO data as an external connection on the rearslot card as opposed to internal connection via the front slot card.Having network layer devices in at least some of the rear slot cards, aswell as the front slot cards, which includes the switching fabric cards,enables rear slot cards having the network layer devices to form alogical network layer with the front slot cards. Forming such a logicalnetwork layer enables, in some embodiments, IO data that arrives at theport of the tear slot card having the network layer card to be deliveredto the switching fabric via the front slot card that the rear slot cardis connected to without having processing performed by processors on thefront slot card. In some embodiments the network layer device isconfigured to perform classification of IO data received externally atthe port. Based on this classification the network layer device iscapable of arranging the routing/forwarding of the IO data to a desireddestination via the front slot card and switching fabric, as opposed tothe front slot card having to process the IO data to determine where theIO data is to be routed/forwarded and then routing/forwarding the dataas appropriate. In some embodiments this reduces processing at the frontslot card and improves the delivery time of the IO data as less time isneeded in processing by the IO data at the front slot card.

In accordance with some embodiments of the invention, the IO deliverywithin a system described herein can refer to network functions thatinclude layer 2 switching, layer 3 routing, policy based forwarding,encapsulation/decapsulation, encryption/decryption or other suchapplicable network functions. FIG. 1 will now be used to describe anexample of the different components of an IO delivery system within anapparatus that include specific network device components and specificIO device components. FIG. 1 will be described with reference to aparticular example of an ACTA chassis and IC cards that may be mountedin the chassis, but this is for exemplary purposes and not intended tolimit the scope of the invention.

In delivery of IO data within a conventional ATCA chassis, the backplanestandards play an important role. The ATCA backplane providespoint-to-point connections between the cards mounted in the chassis. Thebackplane does not use a data bus. The backplane definition is dividedinto three sections, namely ZONE1, ZONE2, and ZONE3. The connectors inZONE1 provide redundant power and shelf management signals to the cards.The connectors in ZONE2 provide the connections to the Base Interfaceand Fabric Interface. In ATCA, the Fabric Interface interconnects allcards for application transactions like sending application messagesbetween cards. The Base Interface interconnects all cards and is usedfor maintenance and control traffic. The Base Interface allows aseparate network that is independent of the Fabric Interface somaintenance functions do not impact application performance and enablessolving issue such as dealing with overload control when applicationmessages cannot successfully be sent.

The ATCA Base Interface is specified in the PICMG3.0 standard. TheFabric Interface is specified in a number of PICMG3.X standards sinceATCA supports Ethernet, RapidIO, Infiniband Fabric connections. Whilethe standards may act as a guide for ACTA operation, they are notintended to limit the scope of the present invention or the operation ofsystems and devices consistent with the invention.

The connectors in ZONES are user defined and are usually used to connecta front slot card to a rear slot card, such as a Rear Transition Module(RTM) card.

In FIG. 1 the backplane includes both ZONE1 connectors 104 and ZONE2connectors 105. ZONE3 connectors, which are illustrated as blocks 102,108 and 111, specify the connection between the front slot card and theRTM. Signals occurring on ZONE1 connectors 104 pertain to power andsystem maintenance providing power to the front slot cards and to therear slot cards via the front slot cards. Signals occurring on ZONE2connectors 105 pertain to intra-shelf communications between thenon-switching fabric front slot cards and switching fabric front slotcards 106. The switching fabric is the electrical connections that formthe backplane and thereby implement traffic carrying functionality. Theswitching fabric card takes the signals from the backplane and convertsthem to packets and routes them along other switching fabric paths toget to the destination card. The fabric is the connection and the switchcard directs to the correct physical path to get to the destination.

In some implementations a switching fabric may be implemented in a meshinterconnection between non-switching fabric front slot cards and assuch no switching fabric cards are used to implement the switchingfabric. In some implementations, which are not intended to limit thescope of the invention, ZONE2 connectors and the switching fabric frontslot cards may include at least one of base 1 Gbits/s backplaneinterconnects and associated hardware devices, 10 Gbits/s backplaneinterconnects and associated hardware devices, and 40 G backplaneinterconnects and associated hardware devices. In some embodiments ZONE2connectors and the switching fabric front slot cards may be consistentwith the PICMIG standard.

ZONE 3 signals and Zone3 connectors 102, 108 and 111 are not defined byany ATCA standard and as a result the ZONE3 signals and connectors arevendor specific. The ZONE 3 connectors 102, 108 and 111 are unique inthat they carry signals from the RTM cards 101, 107 or 110 to the frontslot cards 103, 109 or 113 respectively. There are no cross-slot signalsfor ZONE 3 connectors on the backplane 113 because a rear slot RTM cardis considered to be a part of the front slot card to which it isdirectly connected: Conversely, signals travelling on the ZONE1connectors 104 and signals travelling on the ZONE2 connector 105 crossthe slots in the backplane for slot interconnectivity and system widemaintenance control.

The rear slot RTM cards 101, 107 or 110 are connected to the front slotcards 103, 109 or 113, respectively, through the ZONE3 connectors 102,108 and 111. The front slot cards 103, 109 or 113 are typicallyapplication/service cards with some amount of processing entitiesavailable. Examples of various roles and designs of the front slot cardswithin the ATCA system are explained in further detail below withreference to FIGS. 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E and 4F. FIG. 1 illustrates a lackof connectivity from the rear slot RTM cards 101, 107, or 110 to theswitching fabric card 106 through the ZONE1 connections 104 or ZONE2connections 105. The ATCA standards currently prohibit backplane signalsdirectly connected between ZONE3 102, 108 or 111 connectors and eitherZONE2 104 or ZONE3 105 connectors of other slots. Any connections to theswitching fabric cards 106, or mesh switching fabric, from the rear slotRTM cards 101, 107 or 110 must be made through devices and interconnectson the respective front slot cards 103, 109 or 113. In conventionaloperation, without the logical network layer described herein, without afront cards 103, 109, 113 in place, there is no capability for IOdelivery between the switching fabric cards 106 and the RTM cards 101,107, 110.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of the basic component types andinterconnectivity methods to provide system wide interconnectivity fromany port on any card to any other port on any other card whether thatport is an external connection on a rear slot RTM card or internallyconnected processing entity on a front slot card.

A more detailed view of the connectivity of cards in an ATCA chassiswill now be described with reference to FIG. 2. FIG. 2 illustrates arear slot RTM card 232 coupled to a first front slot card 209 via aZONE3 connector 233 on signal path 206. The first front slot card 209 iscoupled to a switching fabric 231 via a ZONE2 connector 234 on signalpath 211. In FIG. 2 at least a portion of the switching fabric 231 isembodied on switching fabric card 210. As discussed above, analternative to the switching fabric 231 is a mesh interconnect betweenfront slot cards. A second front slot card 227 is also coupled toswitching fabric card 210 via ZONE2 connector 234 on signal path 223.While only two front slot cards are illustrated coupled to the switchingfabric and only a single RTM card is connected to a single front slotcard, it is to be understood that more than two front slot cards couldbe coupled to the switching fabric and more than a single front slotcard could have a connected rear slot RTM card.

The RIM card 232 includes one or more external physical ports 208 forreceiving IO data from outside the chassis. The RTM card 232 includes anetwork device 207. The one or more external physical port 208 isconnected to the network device 207 via an IO device 252. In someembodiments the IO device is a line driver interface. Also connected tothe network device 207 is a processor 250. In some embodiments the RIMcard includes memory storage (not shown). The memory storage may bememory storage associated with the processor 207, or general purposememory for purposes other than the processor 207. In some embodimentsthe memory storage may be one or more disk used as part of a storagearea network (SAN). In some embodiments, the processor 250 may haveonboard memory on a processor chip implementing the processor or utilizememory storage (not shown) elsewhere in the RTM card, or both.

The first front slot card 209 includes a network device 212. The secondfront slot card 227 includes a network device 222. The switching fabriccard 210 includes a network device 242. The network device 212 on thefirst front slot card 209 connects to network device 207 on RTM card 232using ZONE3 connector 233. The network device 212 on the first frontslot card 209 connects to the network device 242 on the switching fabriccard 210 using ZONE2 connector 234.

The combination of the interconnected network devices on the RTM card,front slot cards, and switching fabric card create a single logicalnetwork device layer in the ATCA system where any IO port on any networkdevice can forward, steer or route IO data to any other port on anyother card having a network device.

A processor device running multiple processor cores can be broken intomultiple logical processor entities running separate services andapplications on each logical processor. Each of these applications orservices has security requirements to keep them separated from the othergroups of services or applications executing on either a differentlogical processor on the same physical processor entity or a differentlogical processor on a different physical processor.

In some embodiments the network layer of the front slot cards may alsocontain ports connected to Advanced Mezzanine Cards (AMC). In someembodiments the network layer may also contain ports connected to microATCA (μATCA) cards. These ports maybe directly connected to an AMC orμATCA card using network layer protocol interfaces, or indirectlythrough an IO layer device for transfer of the IO from network layerprotocols to some PCI or similar memory transfer technology. In someembodiments, the IO layer includes IO devices that loop back to and fromthe network layer devices for in-band processing of IO data. In-bandprocessing is protocol related processing such as encryption ordecryption that can be performed by devices other than the networkdevice such that the processing can be offloaded from the network devicethat initially receives the IO data and a network device of adestination by doing the processing somewhere between the two networkdevices. In some embodiments the IO devices include processor offloadfunctionality that is implemented in hardware devices rather thansoftware executed in the processor entity itself.

Referring again to FIG. 2, first front slot card 209 includes IO devicesand processing devices as described above. Connected to network device212 are four IO devices 204, 219, 220 and 214 via signal paths 205, 235,221 and 213 respectively. A first processor 202 is connected to thefirst IO device 204 via signal path 203. A first AMC or μATCA device 201is connected to the second IO device 219 via signal path 236. A secondAMC or μATCA device 217 is connected directly to network device 212. Asecond processor 216 is connected to the fourth IO device 214 via signalpath 215. IO device 220 is connected to one or more external physicalport 237 via link 238. On the second front slot card 227, two IO devices225,246 are connected to network device 222 via signal paths 224, 230,respectively. A first processor 226 is connected to the first IO device225 via signal path 244. A first AMC or μATCA device 228 is connecteddirectly to network device 222.

While FIG. 2 illustrates a particular number of IO devices, processorsand other devices on the respective front slot cards it is to beunderstood that these are simply by way of example and front slot cardscould have any number of IO device, processors and other devices so longthey devices are supported with regard to power constraints, thermaloperating constraints and size constraints.

In some implementations the switching fabric is one or more front cardsconfigured to act as the switching fabric. In some implementations theswitching fabric is a 40 Gb/s, 10 Gb/s, or 1 Gb/s star topology networkusing switching cards containing network devices. In someimplementations the switching fabric is a 40 Gb/s, 10 Gb/s, or 1 Gb/smesh interconnect eliminating the need for switching fabric cards,except where backwards compatibility with older 10 Gb/s or 1 Gb/s frontcards may be preferable. In some implementations the switching fabric iscompliant with Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group (PICMG)standards. For example, conventional ATCA specifications are defined orcompliant, or both, by the PICMG 3.x series. PICMG 3.0 is the ATCA basespecification and PICMG 3.1 specifies the use of Ethernet for DataFabric communication.

It is to be understood that forming a logical single network layer byinterconnecting network devices located on front slot and rear slotcards across the system, in particular cards that have IO receive and/ortransmit capability, as described in the present application can beimplemented regardless of the connectivity implemented for the switchingfabric.

In FIG. 2, the network devices of the various front slot and rear slotcards make up the network layer consisting of ports that bring IO datainto the system through external physical ports, and ports that bring IOdata to and from internally connected processor entities using IOinterface devices in the IO layer. The IO layer is used to transfer IOdata from the network layer into the processing layer. The processinglayer may, for example, include one or more of a processor, processormemory, processor offload devices and additional memory.

In some embodiments PCI-E switches are used to interconnect IO devicesin the IO layer and processor entities together.

The methods of connecting the rear slot RTM card to the front slot cardusing the ZONE3 connector and signals that match ZONE2 signals are notlimited to network layer device interconnectivity and may be used toimplement interconnectivity of an IO layer device. In someimplementations the external port connections are made directly into theIO layer using network interface connections.

In some embodiments, the network layer may be accomplished externally tothe ATCA system using network specific equipment.

In some embodiments the network layer devices and IO layer devices areconfigured to support IEEE communication standards such as IEEE 802.1p,802.1bb 802.1Qau, and 802.1az. With the use of above mentioned IEEEstandards, the network layer devices may meet IO data requirements forapplication/service cards to provide low latency inter-service trafficas part of application clustering, high speed storage trafficrequirements for file system support, and external IO data trafficrequirements from the external network ports. In some embodiments thenetwork layer may meet IO data requirements for application/servicecards to provide low latency inter-service traffic via Remote DirectMemory Access (RDMA).

Some embodiments of the invention support the implementation ofnetworking methods of virtual local area networks (VLAN), virtualrouting (VR), virtual routing and forwarding (VRF), traffic managementand policy based filtering and forwarding in the networking layerdevices to meet the security requirements of application segregationacross the different logical processor entities within the ATCA system.

Within an ATCA chassis, the ratio of IO ports to processor entitiesvaries from deployment scenario to deployment scenario. In somedeployments, a large fan-out of low speed ports is connected into thesystem having a smaller number of processor entities. In otherdeployments, there is a small number of high speed ports connected intothe system having a much large number of processor entities. There arealso those deployments having a number of ports and a number ofprocessor entities that lie somewhere between the two extremes of alarge number of lower speed ports limited by connectivity and a smallnumber of high speed ports limited by the processing required.

Some embodiments of the invention include a manner for separating IOpersonality of the system from the processor personality, or in otherwords the number of IO ports is decoupled from the number of processorentities used in the system. For example, when a rear slot RTM card isto be replaced, the processor on the front slot card goes operationallyout of service because the IO data signal from the rear slot RTM cardhas been lost. However, in some implementations of the invention, IOtraffic could still be maintained through another rear slot RTM card bychanging the external route by which the IO data is provided to thesystem or by sharing IO data input between rear slot cards and frontslot cards in different slots. As a result traffic loss may be reduced.

A method for routing IO data in a telecommunication system will now bedescribed with reference to the flow chart illustrated in FIG. 3. Thesystem includes at least one network node comprising a plurality offirst integrated circuit (IC) cards, a plurality of second IC cards anda switching fabric. Each second IC card is connected to a correspondingfirst IC card in a respective slot of the network node. A first step 3-1of the method involves receiving the IO data at an external port of anyof the plurality of first or second IC cards. When packets of the IOdata are received at an external port of any of the plurality of secondIC cards, a second step involves, upon receipt of the packets by a givensecond IC card, the given second IC card performing a packetclassification of the packets to at least in part determine adestination for the packets. A third step of the method involvesdelivering the packets to a first or second IC card destinationaccording to the packet classification performed by the given second ICcard via a logical network layer existing on the first and second ICcards and the switching fabric.

As mentioned above, the network layer consists of several networkingdevices connected together logically functioning as a single entity.FIGS. 4A, 43, 4C, 4D, 4E and 4F illustrate different system cardconfigurations to meet the different amounts of IO port and processorentity capacities.

With regard to the description of FIGS. 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E and 4F below,reference is made again to “slots” being occupied by “IC cards”. A slotincludes a location for a front card and a rear card, or more generallya first card and a second card. In FIGS. 4A and 43, the rear cards areRTM cards and front cards are illustrated to be an application/servicecard (FIG. 4A) and an IO connector card (FIG. 43). In someimplementations, such as illustrated in FIG. 40, a slot may include twoapplication/service cards in the front and rear slot card locationsrespectively. FIGS. 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E and 4F are examples with alimited number of front and rear slot location cards illustrated. It isto be understood that configurations different than the examples shownin the figures would be within the scope of the invention. FIGS. 4A, 43,4C, 4D, 4E and 4F are various examples of slot arrangements that couldbe supported by embodiments of the invention.

In FIG. 4A, a first slot is illustrated to include anapplication/service card 311 in a front slot location and an RTM card312 in a rear slot location. The RTM card 312 includes a network device308, a processor 270, one or more external physical port 307 forreceiving/transmitting IO data and an IO device 272 located between theone or more external physical port 307 and the network device 308. TheIO device 272 may for example be a line driver interface. The RTM card312 may also include memory storage (not shown). The application/servicecard 311 includes a network device 310. The network device 308 of theRTM card 312 is coupled to the network device 310 of theapplication/service card 311 via link 309. The application/service card311 also includes a first IO device 315 connected to the network device310 and a first processor 317 connected to the first IO device 315 and asecond IO device 316 connected to the network device 310 and a secondprocessor 318 connected to the second IO device 316. In some embodimenttransfer of data between the network device 310 and the IO devices315,316 via the IO layer and onto the respective processors via theprocessing layer may be handled in a manner consistent with thedescription above with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

It is to be understood that the use of two IO devices and two processorsis exemplary and not intended to limit the scope of the invention asmore or less than two of each component could be included on anapplication/service card.

In some embodiments the network layer devices 308,305 of the RTM cards312,313 are configured to perform classification of IO data received atthe external ports 307,306. Based on this classification the networklayer devices are capable of arranging the routing/forwarding of the IOdata to a desired destination via a front slot card or the switchingfabric, or both, as opposed to the front slot card having to process theIO data to determine where the IO data is to be routed/forwarded andthen routing/forwarding the data as appropriate. In some embodimentsthis reduces processing at the front slot card and improves the deliverytime of the IO data as less time is needed in processing by the IO dataat the front slot card.

The switching fabric is illustrated as two switching fabric cards 301 inthe front slot position of two respective switching fabric slots and theconnections to the other front and rear slot cards. A network device 302is included on each switching fabric card 301. The switching fabriccards also include a processor 276. The network device 302 in theexemplary illustration of FIG. 4A has an external physical port 314 forreceiving/transmitting IO data and an IO device 277 located between theone or more external physical port 314 and the network device 302. TheIO device 277 may for example be a line driver interface. The switchingfabric card may also include memory storage (not shown). The networkdevice 310 of the application/service card 311 is coupled to the networkdevice 302 of the switching fabric card 301 via link 303.

The network layer in this slot configuration consists of the two networkdevices, 308 and 310, of which the network device 310 of theapplication/service card 311 is used to interconnect the network device308 of the RTM card 312 using ZONE3 connector signals to the networkdevice 302 of the switching fabric card 301. The network device 310 onthe application/service card 311 also provides interconnectivity of thefirst and second processors 317,318 to the network layer through the IOlayer via first and second IO devices 315,316.

A second RTM card 313, having a network device 305, a processor 274, oneor more external physical port 306 for receiving/transmitting IO dataand an IO device 275 located between the one or more external physicalport 306 and the network device 305 is shown in FIG. 4A occupying a rearslot position of one of the two switching fabric slots. The networkdevice 305 of the second RTM card 313 is coupled to the network device302 of the switching fabric card 301. The second RTM card 313 may extendthe number of IO ports in the system by interconnecting the networkdevice 305 on the second RTM card 313 through ZONE2 signals to thenetwork device 302 on the switching fabric card 301.

The ability to route IO data over the single logical network layer viathe ZONE3 and ZONE2 connectors provides flexibility to create adifferent set of external physical IO port connections into the systemapart from the personality of the front slot card design or switchingfabric design.

FIG. 4A illustrates an example of how the network device on the RTM cardconnecting to the network device on the application/service card allowsIO ports on the RTM card connectivity to any other card in the systemwithout the use of processor entities on the application/service card.

FIG. 4B illustrates a similar multi-slot arrangement to FIG. 4A in whicha first slot includes a RTM card 331 in a rear slot location having anetwork device 328, a processor 279, one or more external physical port327 for receiving and/or transmitting IO data and an IO device 280located between the one or more external physical port 327 and thenetwork device 328 and an IO connection card 332 in a front slotlocation. The IO device 280 may for example be a line driver interface.The RTM may also include memory storage (not shown).

The switching fabric is illustrated to be two switching fabric cards 320in front slot locations of two respective slots and the variousconnections to the various front and rear slot cards, each switchingfabric card 320 having a network device 321, a processor 284, one ormore external physical port 322 for receiving and/or transmitting IOdata and an IO device 285 located between the one or more externalphysical port 322 and the network device 321. The IO device 285 may forexample be a line driver interface. The switching fabric cards may alsoinclude memory storage (not shown).

A second RTM card 325 in a rear slot location of one of the switchingfabric slots has a network device 324, a processor 282, one or moreexternal physical port 326 for receiving and/or transmitting IO data andan IO device 283 located between the one or more external physical port326 and the network device 324.

As depicted in FIG. 43, keeping the ZONE3 signals the same as the ZONE2signals provides the system with the ability to use a simplified IOconnector card, for example a card that had minimal functionality beyondrouting IO data from the RTM to the switching fabric, in the front slotlocation to carry interconnect signals from the network device 328 ofRTM card 331, through the IO connector card 332 via a combination of theZONE3 and ZONE 2 connectors into the network devices 321 of therespective switching fabric cards 320 via paths 329, 330, 333. The IOconnector card 332 may be used in implementations where the IO portcapacity is an issue and the use of an application/service card, such asthat used in FIG. 4A, is not required for processing capacity. Forexample, in some embodiments two or more RTM cards could be connected,either logically or physically, to the IC connector card, enablinglarger IO port capacity. In some embodiments, the RTM card may take onprocessing that may have otherwise been performed by a front slotapplication/service card and as such an application/service card is notrequired for processing capacity. In such a slot configuration, the IOconnector card 332 may utilize some active components to provide thenecessary power and card management signals to the RTM card 328.

As with FIG. 4A, FIG. 3B also depicts how a second RTM card can be usedin the rear slot location of at least one of the switching fabric slotsto provide additional IO port capacity to the system by interconnectingthe network device 324 on the second RTM card 325 through ZONE3connections to the network device 321 on one of the switching fabriccards 320.

FIG. 4C illustrates a configuration in which a slot includes twoapplication/service cards, one in the front slot location and one in theback slot location. In such a scenario external IO ports may beconnected to the front slot card. External ports are not illustrated inFIG. 4C, however the application/service cards may have externalphysical ports connected in a manner similar to FIGS. 2 and 5. In someembodiments there is less fanout than is available if external ports areconnected to both an RTM card and a front slot card. However, due to theevolution towards large bandwidth ports this may not be problematic.Current ATCA standards regarding power and size restrictions of the rearslot card, the amount of processing capacity available on the rear slotcard is somewhat limited. Proposed changes to the ATCA standards maychange those restrictions and permit similar or identical processorcapacity on both the front slot card and the rear slot card.

FIG. 4C illustrates a similar multi-slot arrangement to FIGS. 4A and 4Bin which a first slot includes first and second application/servicecards 349 and 350, each having a network device 353 and 351,respectively. Each application/service card 349,350 include first andsecond IO devices 335,336,355,356 connected to the network device353,351 of the respective application/service cards 349,350 and firstand second processors 337,338,357,358 connected to the first and secondIO devices 335,336,355,356.

The switching fabric is illustrated to be implemented as two switchingfabric cards 341 in front slot locations of two respective slots and thevarious connections between the front and rear slot cards, eachswitching fabric card 341 having a network device 342, a processor 286,one or more external physical port 343 for receiving and/or transmittingIO data and an IO device 287 located between the one or more externalphysical port 343 and the network device 342. The IO device 287 may forexample be a line driver interface. The switching fabric cards may alsoinclude memory storage (not shown).

FIG. 4C also illustrates an RTM card 346 used a rear slot location ofthe switching fabric slot to provide additional IO port capacity to thesystem by interconnecting a network device 345 on the RTM card 346through ZONE3 connections 344 to the network device 342 on the switchingfabric card 341. The RTM card 346 in the example of FIG. 4C alsoincludes a processor 289, one or more external physical port 347 forreceiving and/or transmitting IO data and an IO device 290 locatedbetween the one or more external physical port 347 and the networkdevice 345. The IO device 290 may for example be a line driverinterface. The switching fabric cards may also include memory storage(not shown).

As depicted in FIG. 4C, the network device 353 of the frontapplication/service card 349 is connected to the switching fabric cardusing 341 a conventional ZONE2 connector. A ZONE3 connector is used tointerconnect the network device 351 of the rear application/service card350 to the network layer using the network device 353 on the front card349. The combination of the network devices 353,351 on the twoapplication/service cards 349,350, together with the network device onthe switching fabric Card 341 and the network device 345 on the RTM card346 creates a single logical network layer device as with previousillustrations of interconnected network devices. The network devices353,351 on the front and rear cards are also used to interconnect theprocessor entities 357,358 on the rear card 350 through the set of IOlayer devices 355,356. The IO layer devices 335,336,355,356 on bothcards 349,350 are used to take IO data from and to the network layer andtransfer them to and from processor memory using some form of memorytransfer technology.

FIG. 4D illustrates an implementation of a mesh based fabric design. Insome embodiments a switching fabric consists of a mesh of interconnectson the backplane for interconnecting all the slots within the ATCAsystem. As the slots are interconnected, no fabric switching cards areused other than possibly for providing backwards compatibility witholder card types.

In FIG. 4D a first slot is illustrated to include an application/servicecard 360 in a front slot position and a first RTM card 365 in a rearslot position. The first RTM card 365 includes a network device 368, aprocessor 291, one or more external physical port 371 forreceiving/transmitting IO data and an IO device 292 located between theone or more external physical port 371 and the network device 368. TheIO device 292 may for example be a line driver interface. The switchingfabric cards may also include memory storage (not shown). Theapplication/service card 360 includes a network device 370. The networkdevice 368 of the RTM card 365 is coupled to the network device 370 ofthe application/service card 360 via link 363. The application/servicecard 360 also includes a first IO device 373 connected to the networkdevice 370 and a first processor 375 connected to the first IO device373 and a second IO device 374 connected to the network device 370 and asecond processor 376 connected to the second IO device 374. It is to beunderstood that the use of two IO devices and two processors isexemplary and not intended to limit the scope of the invention as moreor less than two of each component could be included on anapplication/service card.

A second slot has a similar arrange to the first slot of anapplication/service card 362 having a network device 369 and two IOdevices 377,378 and two processing devices 379,359 in a front slotlocation and a second RTM card 375 having a network device 378, aprocessor 293, at least one or more external physical port 372 and an IOdevice 294 located between the one or more external physical port 372and the network device 378 in a rear slot location. The IO device 294may for example be a line driver interface. The switching fabric cardsmay also include memory storage (not shown).

In FIG. 4D, the network device 370 of application/service card 360interconnects with the network device 369 of application/service card362 using a ZONE2 mesh interconnect connector. The network devices370,369 on the application/service cards 360,362 also connect to thenetwork devices on the RTM cards 365,375 using a ZONE3 connector. TheZONE3 connectors support a same signal format as the signals used toover the ZONE2 connector to connect to the mesh fabric interconnects.The network devices 368,370 on the RTM cards 365,375 are used to providedifferent external port personalities to the system without impactingthe front card design. The network devices 370,369 on theapplication/service cards 360,362 are also used to interconnect theprocessor entities 375,376,379,359 to the system network layer using IOlayer devices 373,374,377,378. The IO layer devices 373,374,377,378takes IO data to and from the network layer devices 364,362 into thememory of the processor entities 375,376,379,359 using some form ofmemory transfer technology.

FIG. 4E illustrates a configuration similar to FIG. 4A except that theapplication/service card 311 of FIG. 4A has been replaced with a cardconfigured for data storage in FIG. 4E.

In FIG. 4E a first slot is illustrated to include a data storage card380 in a front slot position and a first RIM card 381 in a rear slotposition. The RIM card 381 includes a network device 382, a processor295, one or more external physical port 383 for receiving/transmittingIO data and an IO device 296 located between the one or more externalphysical port 383 and the network device 382. The IO device 296 may forexample be a line driver interface. The RTM card may also include memorystorage (not shown). In some embodiments, the memory storage on the RTMcard may be part of a SAN.

The data storage card 380 includes a network device 384. The networkdevice 382 of the RTM card 381 is coupled to the network device 384 ofthe data storage card 380 via link 385. The data storage card 380 alsoincludes a storage array controller 386 connected to the network device384 and four disks 387 connected to the storage array controller 386.The disks 387 may be part of a SAN. It is to be understood the fourdisks is merely used by way of example and the number of disks could bemore than four or less than four.

Some additional slots in the system may have a switching fabric with asimilar arrangement to the switching fabric slots of FIGS. 4A and 4B.

In FIG. 4E the network device 384 of the data storage card 380 isconnected to a network device 389 on switching fabric card 388 using aconventional ZONE2 connector. ZONE3 connector is used to interconnectthe network device 382 of the RTM card 381 to the network layer usingthe network device 384 on the data storage card 380. The combination ofthe network devices 384,382 on the data storage card 380 and the RTMcard 381, together with the network device 389 on the switching fabriccard 388 and a network device 390 on a second RTM card 391 creates asingle logical network layer device as with previous illustrations ofinterconnected network devices.

The switching fabric cards 388 are also illustrated to include aprocessor 299, one or more external physical port 258 forreceiving/transmitting IO data and an IO device 257 located between theone or more external physical port 258 and the network device 389. Thesecond RTM card 391 is also illustrated to include a processor 297, oneor more external physical port 259 for receiving/transmitting IO dataand an IO device 298 located between the one or more external physicalport 259 and the network device 390. The IO devices 257,298 may forexample be line driver interfaces. The switching fabric and second RTMcards may also include memory storage (not shown).

The storage array controller 386 on data storage card 380 is used totake IO data from and to the network layer and transfer the IO data toand from at least one of the disks 397.

FIG. 4F is a further configuration on which embodiments of the inventionmay be implemented. FIG. 4F is substantially the same as FIG. 4A withoutan RIM card in a rear slot location behind the application/service card.Such a configuration may be used for control plane and management planesignaling.

In some embodiments of FIGS. 4A to 4F, the processors on the RTM cards,switching fabric cards and/or application/service cards may have onboardmemory on a processor chip implementing the processor or utilize memorystorage (not shown) elsewhere in the RTM card, or both.

It is to be understood that FIGS. 4A to 4F are examples and not intendedto limit the invention. The number of processors, memory storage, IOdevices, number of front slot location cards and rear location cards ina particular implementation may vary from those illustrated and still bewithin the scope of the invention. In some embodiments variouscombinations of the described cards could be included in a particularsystem.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of the flexibility of external IOconnectivity into an ATCA system in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention.

In FIG. 5, a first slot is illustrated to include an application/servicecard 401 in a front slot location and a first RTM card 404 in a rearslot location. The first RTM card 404 includes a network device 417, aprocessor 452, one or more external physical IO port 408 forreceiving/transmitting IO data and an IO device 450 located between theone or more external physical port 408 and the network device 417. Thefirst RTM card 404 may also contain memory storage (not shown). Theapplication/service card 401 includes a network device 414, a first IOdevice 432, a processor 434 connected to the first IO device 432, one ormore external physical IO port 405 for receiving/transmitting IO dataand a second IO device 430 located between the one or more externalphysical IO port 405 and the network device 414. The network device 417of the first RTM card 404 is coupled to the network device 414 of theapplication/service card 401 via link 409 over ZONE3 connector 419.

A second slot is illustrated to include a switching fabric card 402 in afront slot location and a second RTM card 403 in a rear slot location.The second RTM card 403 includes a network device 416, a processor 462,one or more external physical IO port 407 for receiving/transmitting IOdata and an IO device 460 located between the one or more externalphysical port 407 and the network device 416. The second RTM card 403may also contain memory storage (not shown). The switching fabric card402 includes a network device 415, a first IO device 442, a processor444 connected to the first IO device 442, one or more external physicalIO port 406 for receiving/transmitting IO data and a second IO device440 located between the one or more external physical IO port 406 andthe network device 415. The network device 416 of the second RTM card403 is coupled to the network device 415 of the switching fabric card402 via link 413 over ZONE3 connector 421.

The network device 414 of the application/service card 401 is connectedto a switching fabric 422 via link 410 over ZONE2 connector 420. Thenetwork device 415 of the switching fabric card 402 is connected to theswitching fabric 422 via link 412 over ZONE2 connector 420. Additionalconnections to other slots in the chassis may occur over links generallyindicated at 411.

Since the interconnected network layer devices 417,414,415,416 areconnected to the switching fabric 422 to form a single logical networklayer, any port on any card in FIG. 4, or card not shown, but includedin the chassis, is capable of switching, routing or forwarding IO to anyother port on any other card. Card designs with different externalphysical IO port configurations can meet the deployment requirementswithout the need for special deployment specific control plane ormanagement plane software. In some embodiments, a single global slot andport designation nomenclature in the management system's user interfaceand programmatic control plane interface can be used to specify theexternal IO ports.

In FIG. 5, the one or more external physical IO port 406 on theswitching fabric card 402 is connected to the network layer device 415of the switching fabric card 402 directly. The one or more externalphysical IO port 406 provides connectivity to all other cards in thesystem using the network layer. The switching fabric card slots alsoprovide ZONE3 connections to an RTM card, for example second RTM card403. In FIG. 5, the one or more external physical IO port 407 on thesecond RTM card 403 of the switching fabric card slot are connected tothe network layer device 416 of the second RTM card 403. This networkdevice interconnects with the rest of the network layer using ZONE3connector signals into the network layer device 415 of the switchingfabric card 402.

The one or more external physical IO ports of the first and second RTMcards 404,403 provide rear slot physical port access to the system forthose deployment scenarios that include rear slot connections. The oneor more external physical IO ports on the switching fabric card 402 arefront slot access ports for those deployment scenarios that includefront slot connections. In both cases, external physical IO portsconnected to fabric switching slots provide connections to all cards inthe system using the network layer.

For some deployment scenarios, switching fabric card based IOconnections are preferred to other external IO port connections onnon-switching fabric slots for at least the ability to forward IO fromthe external port of the switching fabric card to an application/servicecard and back again using a single switching fabric interconnect.

In a case where the IO data enters an external physical port on a rearcard or an external physical port on a front card of a non-switchingfabric based card slot, the IO data may be forwarded through to anapplication/service card on another slot through the network layerdevice of the fabric switching card and then back again to the same IOport, consuming two of the switching fabric interconnect links in theswitching fabric.

In some embodiments, an advantage to the non-fabric RTM port connectionsis the ability to support many external port IO connections from theincreased faceplate real estate of more slots.

In some embodiments of FIG. 5, the processors on the RTM cards,switching fabric cards and/or application/service cards may have onboardmemory on a processor chip implementing the processor or utilize memorystorage (not shown) elsewhere in the RTM card, or both.

While FIG. 5, like FIGS. 4A to 4F refer specifically to RTM cards in thereal slot location and switching fabric cards and application/servicecards in the front slot location, more generally, the cards could bereferred to as front cards and rear cards, or first cards and secondcards.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating processes supported in eachof the three layers, namely the network layer 503, the IO layer 502 andthe processing layer 501, described above for processing IO data in andout of the system.

The networking layer 503 is capable of supporting VLAN (virtual localarea network) processes 513 for layer 2 link address segregation andlayer 2 forwarding. The network layer 503 supports VR (virtual router)processes 514 for layer 3 network address segregation and routingsupport. The VR processes are also used in conjunction with VPNprocesses 519 for providing virtualization of networks across systems.The network layer 503 supports policy based steering processes 515 forapplication specific steering rules. The network layer 503 supportstraffic management processes 517 for managing traffic. Securityprocesses 516 are supported in the network to provide static firewallmethods and DOS (denial of service) protection. Additional statefulfirewall processes or stateless firewall processes, or both, are alsodeployed in both the IO layer 502 and the processing layer 501. Astatefull firewall provides enhanced control and improved security bykeeping track of dynamic state and responding appropriately. For examplekeeping track of a connection being up and in a given state anddiscarding all packets not relative to that state as a securityenhancement. The division of firewall methods is a matter of rulesophistication and scope of the rules.

The IO layer 502 supports processing layer interface capabilities into avirtualized processing environment using Single Root I/O Virtualization(SR-IOV) processes 507. The IO layer 502 supports processing basedsteering processes 506. The IO layer 502 also supports processing layeroffload functionality that would otherwise consume valuable processorlayer resources to perform. The offload functionality, in the IO layer,include Fiber Channel over Ethernet (FCOE) 508, SOE 518, and internetSmall Computer System Interface (iSCSI) 509 protocol support for storageaccess, a TOE 510 for Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol(TCP/IP) offload and internet protocol security with secure socketslayer (SSL) (IPSEC/SSL) 511 for offloaded encryption/decryption methods.The IO layer 502 also supports firewall processes 512 more specific tothe applications running on the processor entity in the processing layerthat is bound to a specific IO device operating in the IO layer 502.

The processing layer 501 is the layer in which applications or services,or both, 504 are executed for operation of the system. In some scenariosthese applications are “end of the road” applications where responses tothe application requests are sent back to an originator of the request.In other cases, the services in the processing layer 501 are in-bandprocessing intensive networking services for storage, clustering or IO.In-band processing intensive network services include means performingexamination and intensive processing on packets routed through a system.An example is encryption of the packets, in which examination of thepacket is performed and processing is performed to produce coding thatis significantly different than the original packet. The processinglayer 501, in either scenario, supports stateful firewall and securityprocesses 505 specific to the applications and/or services 504 executingwithin the specific processing device.

In an ATCA system, the IO delivery of the system includes several typesof different traffic with different latency and bandwidth requirements.The virtualization of ATCA system results in different types ofcommunication being used and segregation of processor entities withinthe system. This segregation includes networking addressing, networktopology, and security between virtual domains. In some embodiments, theuse of a logical networking layer as described herein enables IO datadelivery in an ATCA chassis from any number of external physical IOports and speeds to any number of virtualized domains of processorentities and the applications and services that are execute upon them.

Numerous modifications and variations of the present invention arepossible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to beunderstood that within the scope of the appended claims, the inventionmay be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.

1. A method for routing input/output (IO) data in a telecommunicationsystem, the system comprising a network node comprising a plurality offirst integrated circuit (IC) cards, a plurality of second IC cards anda switching fabric, each second IC card connected to a correspondingfirst IC card in a respective slot of the network node, the methodcomprising: receiving the IO data at an external port of any of theplurality of first or second IC cards; when packets of the IO data arereceived at an external port of any of the plurality of second IC cards:upon receipt of the packets by a given second IC card, the given secondIC card performing a packet classification of the packets to at least inpart determine a destination for the packets; delivering the packets toa first or second IC card destination according to the packetclassification performed by the given second IC card via a logicalnetwork layer existing on the first and second IC cards and theswitching fabric.
 2. The method of claim 1 further comprising: at one ormore of any of the first or second IC cards or the switching fabric:receiving the packets in the logical network layer; and offloading thepackets to an IO layer for processing or to a processing layer forprocessing via the IO layer.
 3. The method of claim 2 wherein offloadingthe packets to the IO layer for processing comprises at least one of:offloading the packets to the IO layer to enable virtualized operatingenvironment support with isolated network addressing and protectedtraffic types through the use of one or more of: networking layervirtual local area networking (VLAN), virtual routing (VR) and policybased forwarding methods; and offloading the packets to the IO layer toenable unification of physical interconnect resources for clustercommunications between application services, storage traffic betweenapplication and storage devices, and IO traffic between applicationservices and external ports through the use of the network layer.
 4. Themethod of claim 3 further comprising accessing at least one peripheraldevice within the network node via the logical networking layer.
 5. Themethod of claim 1 wherein delivering the packets via the logical networklayer to a first or second IC card destination comprises at least oneof: delivering the packets via at least one of the plurality of first ICcards configured as a switching fabric card; and delivering the packetsvia a mesh interconnect connecting together two or more of the pluralityof first IC cards.
 6. An integrated circuit (IC) card for use in a rearslot location of a network node having a plurality of slots, each slotcomprising a front slot location and rear slot location, the IC cardcomprising: at least one external port for receiving IO data; at leastone internal port for connecting to a corresponding front slot locationcard or a switching fabric of the network node; a network deviceconfigured to perform classification of packets of the IO data to atleast in part determine a destination for the packets, the networkdevice configured to communicate with network devices in front slotcards and a switching fabric such that collectively the network devicesform a logical network layer for delivering the packets of the IO datato a different front slot location card or rear slot location carddestination according to classification performed by the network devicevia the logical network layer.
 7. The IC card of claim 6 furthercomprising at least one IO device configured to offload packets of theIO data for processing.
 8. The IC card of claim 6 wherein the IO deviceis configured to perform at least one of: encryption; decryption;encapsulation; decapsulation; deep packet inspection; TransmissionControl Protocol (TCP); Fiber Channel over Ethernet (FCOE) processingand internet Small Computer System Interface (iSCSI) processing.
 9. Anapparatus for routing input/output (IO) data in a telecommunicationsystem comprising: a plurality of first integrated circuit (IC) cards; aplurality of second IC cards; and a switching fabric, each second ICcard connected to a first IC card in a slot of the apparatus; wherein atleast one of the plurality of second IC cards is configured to receiveIO data at an external port; upon receipt of packets of the IO data, theat least one second IC card performing a packet classification of thepackets to at least in part determine a destination for the packets;delivering the packets to a first or second IC card destinationaccording to the packet classification via a logical network layerexisting on the first and second IC cards and the switching fabric. 10.The apparatus of claim 9, wherein one or more of the first or second ICcards or the switching fabric are configured to: receive the packets inthe logical network layer; and offload the packets to an IO layer forprocessing or to a processing layer for processing via the IO layer. 11.The apparatus of claim 9 wherein at least one of the plurality of secondIC cards and at least one of the plurality of first IC cards have anetwork device that enables delivery of the packets in the logicalnetwork layer.
 12. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the switching fabricis comprised of at least one of: at least one of the plurality of firstIC cards configured as a switching fabric card; and a mesh interconnectconnecting together two or more of the plurality of first IC cards. 13.The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the network node is an AdvancedTelecommunications Computing Architecture (ACTA) chassis comprising aplurality of slots configured to receive the plurality of first IC cardsand the plurality of second IC cards.
 14. The apparatus of claim 13wherein at least one of the plurality the second IC cards is a RearTransition Module (RTM) card.
 15. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein: atleast one of the plurality of first IC cards is one of: anapplication/service card; an IO connector card; and a data storage card.16. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein a second IC card and a first ICcard in the same slot are the same card type and use the logical networklayer to deliver packets to other first and second IC cards.
 17. Theapparatus of claim 9 wherein at least one of the plurality of first ICcards and plurality of second IC cards comprises at least one offloaddevice configured to operate in the IO layer.
 18. The apparatus of claim17 wherein the at least one offload device is configured to perform atleast one of: encryption; decryption; encapsulation; decapsulation; deeppacket inspection; Transmission Control Protocol (TCP); Fiber Channelover Ethernet (FCOE) processing and internet Small Computer SystemInterface (iSCSI) processing.
 19. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein thenetwork devices are compliant with one or more of: IEEE 802.1p, IEEE802.1Qua, IEEE 802.az, IEEE 802.1bb, and PCI-E.
 20. The apparatus ofclaim 9, wherein a subset of the plurality of the second IC cards areconfigured to monitor and debug any IO port, internal or external on anyother first or second IC card in the apparatus.